Dr. Foad and his staff are committed to your well-being. We have an extremely low infection rate and we like to keep it that way for all of our surgical patients. Dr. Foad is diligent in infection prevention, but we would like you (the patient) to also play an active role in keeping your infection risk low.
Skin is not sterile. There are all sorts of bacteria and germs that habitat the skin. Dr. Foad likes his patients to use a special type of soap called chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) to help reduce the germ count on your skin prior to surgery.
What is CHG?
CHG is a chemical antiseptic soap/cleanser that is both bacteriocidal (kills) and bacteriostatic (reduces the reproduction) of mainly gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Using CHG soap/cleanser can significantly reduce the number of bacteria on the skin up to several hours after its use. This is not a problem for the majority of patients to use, but please discuss with your primary care physician regarding allergies. CHG soap/cleanser is available at most pharmacies and drug stores.
How do I use CHG in the Shower?
The night before your surgery:
- Wash your face and body with regular soap. Use your regular shampoo for your hair.
- Rinse your body off and turn off the running shower.
- Use half the CHG soap/cleanser on a wet clean washcloth and lather your body from neck down for 3-5 minutes.
Do Not use CHG on your face, ears, mouth, hair or genital area. Apply more CHG as needed, but save the other half of the bottle for the morning shower. - Turn the shower back on and rinse your body.
- Pat your skin dry with a clean bath towel.
- Get into clean clothes and clean bedding. Change your bedding to clean sheets prior to your shower.
Please use CHG at least the night before your surgery and the morning/day of your surgery. If you notice that your skin turned red or itchy after using CHG the night before, then Do Not Use it the morning of your surgery. Just take a regular shower. If contact occurs to your eyes, use cold water to rinse right away. You do not need to scrub CHG soap/cleanser too hard onto your skin.
The morning of the surgery:
- If you had no reaction to the CHG soap/cleanser from the night before, you may use the other half on the morning of your surgery.
- Repeat steps 1-6 like the night before.
Remember:
Do Not shave the area where you will have surgery. Our facility has the trained staff to do this.
Do Not use any kinds of oils, lotions, ointments, creams or deodorants on your skin prior to surgery.
Do Not use hair grooming or hair-removal products prior to surgery.
Please remind all staff, friends and family members to wash their hands prior to coming into contact with you at the time of surgery (i.e. hugs, kisses, starting IV’s, etc.)
If you are allergic to CHG soap/cleanser or if for any reason, you are not able to use this cleanser, please follow the instructions attached and use an antibacterial soap (such as Lever, Dial, Safeguard, etc.).
Please call your doctor if you develop any redness, swelling, itching, burning pain, or blistering.